KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) has recommended “appropriate intervention” in 12 cases of bullying of health care workers, following complaints on the MOH’s MyHELP complaints channel.
Then-Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa told the Dewan Negara last December 5 that as of November 1 this year, the MOH received 206 complaints from MyHELP, a dozen of which were categorised as bullying cases.
The remaining 194 complaints were categorised as non-bullying cases and were linked to service and personal issues, such as relocation applications, placement issues, insufficient parking, and marital issues.
“Complaints that have been investigated and proven as incidents of bullying were given a recommendation of appropriate intervention, based on the regulations that are in force,” Dr Zaliha said in a written parliamentary reply.
The former health minister was responding to a question by Senator Kesavadas A. Achyuthan Nair, who had wanted to know the bullying statistics among health care workers serving in the MOH.
The MyHELP system is a bullying complaints system launched by the MOH on October 1, 2022. The system allowed for officers to relay their complaints of bullying directly to the MOH’s Integrity Unit Headquarters, bypassing their supervisor or head of department.
Non-bullying cases, on the other hand, can be submitted via the MOH’s Public Complaint Management System, better known as SisPAA.
Dr Zaliha said the MOH has carried out a few additional initiatives to manage bullying.
The first initiative mentioned by the former health minister was the Mind Transformation programme and Orientation programme at health care facilities. These programmes are to facilitate early disclosure and management of bullying incidents.
The MOH is also working alongside the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and other associations and unions to collect information related to bullying complaints.
Additionally, MOH provides support services activities such as the mentor-mentee programme, mental health support system, training doctor support group in hospitals such as the Kintsukuroi programme and holding periodic engagement sessions with the head of department.
Dr Zaliha also said that the MOH will continue to strengthen the Houseman Programme Committee at the state health department level to aid in resolving houseman issues while they undergo medical graduate training.
